Claire, Our French Rep For LABOURE-ROI Brought Me A Bottle Of 2007 Macon-Villages Unoaked Chard " St. Armand " / Nice With My Lovely Wife 5/ 18/09

We have been sitting outside now for the last forty-five minutes on our deck out back here in Annandale, Virginia our home. I've been grilling our dinner as I make the meals for the family on Sundays and Mondays. Those are my two days-off and I like to contribute where I can. I also like to grill.

I've been enjoying taking some liberties with my KODAK Easy Share CX4200 digital camera taking pictures of the wine, the bottle, the golden capsule and the red corkscrew with the background of trees and woods and the sky and sun. It's been a beautiful day here and I have done yard work all day.

It was great to see our daughter graduate from U.V.A. yesterday in Charlottesville. We had a wonderful time there and she has worked so hard and made us all so proud : we can't ask for anything more.

The bottle of LABOURE-ROI St. Armand unoaked Chardonnay started off a bit cold and steely and sharp in places. I kept waiting for it to soften and to morph and to lose it's edginess. It finally did about forty-five minutes or so later and I began to enjoy it a whole lot more in this rounder, lusher state of creamy-dreamy-lulling ( like being in a baby cradle and rocked - or a hammock or a rocker ). It's really showing well now and I can't wait to have another glass in a few minutes when my wife returns with our son that has been at his swimming practice.

I will report more later. Now I am going to download these pictures that I just took and I hope that you all like them. I think they bring other angles and other things to the table to add to the extensive and complete reviews that are often all that we get when we consider a wine.

Thanks Claire : merci pour le Macon-Villages et le Beaujolais Villages. We will have both in the store tomorrow, Tuesday May 19th, 2009 for sale once again. Cheers, TONY


P.S. I just enjoyed my grilled chicken and Italian sweet sausages with my family a few minutes ago. The St. Armant 2007 worked really well with the boneless chicken thighs as well as with the Italian sweet sausages that had fennel in them. As a matter of fact the unoaked Chardonnay whir Burgundy from LABOURE-ROI worked beautifully together. I really enjoyed the combination and it was not one that I would have immediately thought of as working well together.

I try not to prejudge a situation : that's why I like serendipitous ones so much. I often learn more, am more surprised and pleased when I come without any preconceived notions. I may be less-informed at first this way but what happens afterward as I experience first-hand ( with only my hands, eyes, ears, nose and taste buds ) is that I bring my feelings and reactions into play and not someone Else's. This is worth a gold mine, really it is. You just have to be brave enough to trip and fall, soar and fly and leap and depend on yourself and not someone else or a group of someone Else's. I know, it takes courage and balls and confidence : try it, you will I believe learn more on your own terms and thus be able to apply better what you have learned, experienced and enjoyed.

This has been a grand day on what became a beautiful afternoon and evening here in northern Virginia. Oh, and tonight I get to watch the season finale of " Gossip Girls " with my son. No, this has nothing to do with wine : I know that. But this is a blog - my blog - and I take lots of liberties with it. Hope you don't mind. Cheers again now at 8:39 PM on Monday night, May 18th, 2009.

Oh, one last thing : I think Claire will be joining us again this coming 4th of July at the store to taste some of her excellent LABOURE-ROI French wines. Go to the search engine here and look at that earlier blog with Claire at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits where I manage the wine department with Mike Martin's help ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265, sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ). TONY

Dennis Sherman of Elden Wine ( bourgogne ) ,A Negociant en Vin living In Burgundy Stops By Cleveland Park, Wash D.C. With Fabulous Samples French Wine

It was great to see Dennis again earlier this year. I've met him at least once, perhaps twice before and have sold some of his excellent Chablis through one of the smaller wholesalers. It's been at least two years that we have done a small amount of business with his wines.

That was then and this visit was a much more ambitious sales-call on Dennis' part : this time he wanted to sell me directly through Hildebrand a pallet or more ( 56 cases mixed ) of wines to come here directly from somewhere up north, was it New Jersey?!? It's been awhile and my memory fogs and I cannot recollect all the details.

What I do remember clearly is the fabulous quality of these wines. Dennis had a list of French wines and their samples of 24 bottles. I told Dennis what I was the most interested in . We talked business, I tasted a couple of bottles and gave Dennis some information of others that we would like to work with.

Mike and divided the wines to take home and try with food. I took many of the whites because my wife loves white wine and so I drink a lot of white as a result. That's life and I have grown to really like white wine a lot more because of this. So be it. I would still, however, prefer to drink red wine most of the time when given the choice and someone to share it with so that I do not drink more than my fair share.

I put black ink marks by the eighteen bottles that I was interested in trying. I also made notes on the ones that Dennis and opened here together in the store. I will include those notes. However, Dennis' list is quite incomplete with many times no actual names of the Chateau or the Domaine : only he knows for sure , and then can he really be sure?!? It's a fun, inaccurate way to do business : a bit of a fun puzzle. I don't mind Dennis, really.

It's really early in the morning of Saturday, January 17th, 2009 - 1:05 Am to be exact. It's almost inauguration day here and things are starting to come alive in Washington D.C. I can't wait : I have to get into town to have the store open and running for business - sell lts of wine among other things.

I love these pictures I took outside on our deck as my wife and I enjoyed the bottle of French Chignin while my son and his friend roasted marshmallows. How do you like the light from the flames on the bottle and the glass? I will add more photos soon.

For more information on Dennis Sherman go to : Elden Wine, Sarl, Elden , Siret 453 200 750 00017 , 13 Grande Rue 21500 Fain-Les-Moutiers , France Tel/Fax : 33/ (0) 380 96 78 30 eldenwine@gmail.com www.eldenwine.com French Representative Office, Forum Worldwide Ltd. FORUM WINE ).

I have some more pictures to download but I have to find them first. I will but in the meantime I'm going to post this now so that you can read the story and get excited about Dennis' excellent selections of wines. He and I have just exchanged emails recently and I hope this finds him in good health in France. As I have said : Dennis, I am really jealous of you!

Cheers Denis, and Happy New Year 2009 to you and your family ! Wish I were in burgundy with you now! TONY